The main landing gear braking control system of an aircraft has been through a deep evolution. An important step in the design of these devices was including systems which control specifically the skidding of the main landing gear.
With the introduction of IMA architecture (Integrated Modular Avionics) as the responsible of the whole avionics of the aircraft, it has been necessary to develop new methods for controlling the skidding of the main landing gear, that take into account the particular structure of these aircraft control systems.
In these control systems, each anti-skid computer is controlled only by the IMA of its corresponding side. In the systems comprised in the state of the art, the IMA computer of side 1 is exclusively connected downstream to the emergency braking box and with the anti-skid computer of the side 1.
An example of this configuration may be seen in US Patent Publication No. 2012/0109424 A1. In this document, a system where each IMA computer controls its own anti-skid computer is described, embedded in a flight control system for the whole aircraft. It also comprises a failure detector monitoring the anti-skid computers.
This configuration presents a problem, which is the response when a cross failure in the IMA computer and in the anti-skid computer takes place. When the IMA computer is unable to control the anti-skid computer of its side, either due to an error in the connection, or due to an internal error of the IMA computer itself, and the other anti-skid computer is unavailable, the aircraft cannot be braked, as no anti-skid computer can be used to control the action of braking.
Furthermore, if that failure takes place before the aircraft starts its operation, said aircraft could not even be operated, as the anti-skid system is an essential system for its operation.
Other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.